building the dif network

grabbing the spotlight

so yes - i now have an assistant at dif studio in bristol - let's see if they work out.

now liam did ask a killer question 'who's in this network - it's not just us is it?' i could see what they were getting at, the numbers look small, there's no shiny productions to show off yet. and the scope of the project is flexing a lot in these early days - every time i get the snowball formed in the palm of my hand it seems to melt away.

but then i've started thinking about the people who have already been involved and continue to be involved, helping to build and support the network. so by way of a thank you here's a little sketch of the network in action already.

after a research residency, a writer retreat and an artists talk-meal in jan, islington mill feels like our northern home already. nomadic street artist and videographer joana is currently in vienna but has been networking dif across europe. yihang has been developing a conceptual art performance piece based on our manifesto out in shanghai which he hopes to bring to the uk in the summer. i'm working with taipei-london based artist joe joe on how dif might develop its look. here in bristol, our little studio is ready to use, we can accommodate up to 4 writers-artists at any one time - we've also got other venues we can access across the city for different things. and we're exploring co-productions with indie bookshops, gay and queer readings groups, and local presses in bristol.

not to forget the writers and artists - working on their own projects - who have come to our stuff in-person or online and if it works for them, get involved. in future editions of the blog we will invite some of these writers and artists to tell you about their experience with dif and update you on what they've been doing.

so its really happening - already.

what i would like to achieve over the next six months more than anything is to find some talented writers and artists who might be overlooked by the mainstream but for whom dif can be the right launchpad to reach their audiences. we're ready to up that search real soon - but if that is you and you know it - or you want to recomend someone/or a group - then you know where we are.

i'm sure 2025 is going to be dif